Brighton

Brighton on the southern Sussex coast is one of the largest and most famous seaside resorts in England. Brighton and Hove form a single conurbation but Brighton's lively atmosphere is a direct contrast to its near neighbour which has quieter and more refined character. The two boroughs were joined together to form the unitary authority of Brighton and Hove in 1997, which in 2000 was granted city status.

Early history

While any British history predating the first mentions by literate Romans is, by definition, consigned to an obscured landscape known intimidatingly as 'prehistory', a few things are known about the area.

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Whitehawk Camp — a natural viewpoint — is bisected by Manor Road. The centre of this early Neolithic causewayed enclosure c.3500BC is someway toward the aerial mast on the south side of Manor Road, opposite the grandstand. There are four concentric circles of ditches and mounds, broken or 'causewayed' in many places. Significant vestiges of the mounds remain and you can trace their arc with the eye.

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The building of a new housing estate in the early nineties over the South Eastern portion of the enclosure resulted in damage to the archeology, the loss of the ancient panoramic view and a diminishment in atmosphere of the historical site.

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More of prehistoric Brighton and Hove can be observed just north of the small retail park on Old Shoreham Road, built over the site of the town's football ground in the late 1990's, where you can visit The Goldstone. There is a plaque telling us it was believed to be in use (ceremonial? geomantic?) around 2000BC. A standing stone circle nearby (today's Hove Park) is documented up to 1820, when the farmer had had one too many 'antiquarians' traipsing over his crop and buried the stones.

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After a considerable and scholarly review, Paul Harwood of Birmingham's Institute of Archaeology & Antiquity noted that there are "a concentration of Beaker burials on the fringes of the central chalklands around Brighton, and a later cluster of Early and Middle Bronze Age ‘rich graves' in the same area."

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Of considerable interest from the middle Bronze Age is the Hove Amber Cup. During nineteenth century building work near Palmeira Square, workmen tasked with removing an earth mound 'excavated' a significant burial mound. A defining point on the landscape since at least 1500BC, this 20 foot high tomb yielded, amongst other treasures, the Hove Amber Cup. Made of translucent red Baltic Amber and approximately the same size as a regular china teacup, the impressive artefact can be seen in Hove Museum.

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Undoubtedly the single most impressive pre-Roman site in Brighton is Hollingbury Camp. Commanding panoramic views over Brighton, this Celtic Iron Age encampment is circumscribed by substantial earthwork outer walls, perhaps six to eight metres high. As a 'ball park figure', its diameter is about 300 meters.

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The Romans built villas throughout Sussex and indeed there was a villa in Brighton. At the time of its construction in the first or second century AD there was a river running along what is now the tarmac of London Road. The villa was sited more or less at the water's edge, immediately south of Preston Park — which area itself would perhaps have been part of the outer grounds. The villa was excavated in the 1930s prior to the building of a (now gone) garage on the site. Numerous artefacts were found as well as the foundations of the building. In the thirties, the garage owner had a small display of Roman statues and broaches in the forecourt shop.

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The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle contains the first mention of a settlement in the area at Beorthelm's-tun (the town of Beorthelm). In the Domesday Book, Brighton was called Bristemestune and a rent of 4000 herring was established.

Related Topics:
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle - Domesday Book - Herring

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From the manorial system, Preston manor lingers on today as a museum. Although the present day manor house is relatively recent in construction, the church — St Peters, currently under the care of the Churches Conservation Trust — is fourteenth century. A medieval fresco depicting the murder of Thomas a Beckett was discovered under paint following a fire in the early part of the twentieth century. As such, it is among the oldest art in Brighton. In June 1514, the fishing village then known as Brighthelmstone was burnt to the ground by the French as part of a war between the two which began as a result of the Treaty of Westminster (1511). Later on in Henry's reign, the residents of the town petitioned the monarch for defensive cannon. Part of their 'pitch' was an illustrated map (1545) showing the French raid of 1511. A display copy of the map can be seen in Hove Museum.

Related Topics:
1514 - Treaty of Westminster (1511)

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